STOCKS GO NOWHERE: Here's What You Need To Know

First, the scoreboard:

• Dow: 15,381.2, -18.3, -0.1%
• S&P 500: 1,742.6, -1.8, -0.1%
• NASDAQ: 3,913.9, -0.3, -0.0%

And now the top stories:

• For what it's worth, the U.S. stock markets are right below their all-time highs.
• Existing home sales fell 1.9% to an annualized rate of 5.29 million in September. However, the August sales number was revised down to 5.39 million from an earlier reading of 5.48 million. "Affordability has fallen to a five-year low as home price increases easily outpaced income growth," said the National Association of Realtors chief economist Lawrence Yun. "Expected rising mortgage interest rates will further lower affordability in upcoming months. Next month we may see some delays associated with the government shutdown."
• "The data suggests that a more substantial portion of sales in the past month came in the distressed sector (14% from 12% in August), with foreclosure sales and short sales both rising slightly," said TD Securities' Gennadiy Goldberg. "All cash buyers and investors also remained active, accounting for 33% and 19% of home purchases, respectively. Despite this, first time home buyers continued to account for 28% of home sales during the month, suggesting that the recent recovery in home prices and the rise in mortgage rates have not priced first time buyers out of the market."
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